Grecja a koncepcja czasu osiowego w "O źródle i celu historii" Karla Jaspersa

Abstract

In the paper I consider ancient Greece as a member of what Karl Jaspers called Axial civilizations. In his 1949 book On the Origin and Goal of History Karl Jas- pers developed the theory of the Axial Age. This refers to a supposed proces of intellectual and socio-political change that occurred in Greece, iIrael, Persia, India, and China (but nowhere else) in the period 800–200 BCE. The changes involve the development of critical and reflective thinking as well as a new sense of individuality. I first analyze Jaspers’ original theory in order ot extract criteria of the Axial Age that could be usef for testing whether a particular civ- ilization should be characterized as Axial. I suggest that such criteria may be found in the development of a universal, absolute ethics, based in a notion of transcendence that is opposed to and seeks to displace traditional beliefs and practices. Also, a further criterion can be found in the notion of an individual opposed to the wider community. I then apply these criteria to ancient Greece of the period 800–200 BCE. I conclude that while significant changes have occured in Greece in this period, not least the devlopment of philosophy, they do not support the classification of Greece as an Axial civilization.